Skidding on a fixie - sans brakes

Gags

The other week I changed the handlebars of my road fixie from Sushi bars
back to a set of cow horns (actually a set of drops that I chopped back with
a hacksaw and turned upside down). The main reason that I did this is
because I have been trying to master the art of "fixie skids" using only leg
power (ie. no brakes) and with the sushi bars I couldn't get my weight
forward enough to allow me to lock up the back wheel.

Anyway, last night I spent about half an hour or so in the cul-de-sac
practicing getting my weight forward enough to lock up the back wheel. I
ended up doing a heap of skids at a fairly slow speed and in the end I was
able to skid reasonably easily. I rode the fixie to work and back today and
every time I hit a red light I locked up the rear to slow down. By the time
I got into the city I was getting the hang of things and the last one that I
did was heading up to the lights near the Princess Theatre on Spring St and
I ended up leaving about a 10m snaking black line as by this stage I was
throwing the rear of the bike from side to side as I skidded (this was
taking me back to my youth in a big way!!!)........I then did the same thing
for the trip home.

Today's efforts have resulted in me coming to a number of conclusions:

1. Skidding the rear wheel doesn't actually slow you down real quick -
not sure if this has anything to do with my technique (or lack of it) but
because I had to unweight the rear so much to stop it spinning, I just
seemed to keep skidding without actually losing too much speed. This might
be good for fixie skid competitions but it was not real good for actually
slowing down in a hurry.

2. I don't think I will ever go sans brakes - as I was going past the
Austin Hospital on the way home I had a guy who was basically level with me
decide to throw on the left indicator and turn into the hospital carpark
with about 5m or so warning - I grabbed both brakes and managed to stop a
couple of inches before running into his rear left wheel!!! I can also only
do fixie skids with my left foot back and so potentially I would have to
roll for a few metres before even starting to skid - add in the added
difficulty of tram tracks and gutters and I really don't know how anyone can
ride without brakes (may have something to do with me running too big a gear
or the fact that they are shitloads better riders than me??). I can ride
around the city without using brakes but to do this I ride less aggresively
and allow a lot more time for slowing down.

3. Skidding on a regular basis would be an expensive pastime for me -
when I left for work this morning the rear tyre was a conti GP4000 with
about 150km of previous wear as a front tyre (I only put it on last night
after I had finished practicing). When I got home I had a look at the tyre
and there are a number of significant flat spots on it and one of them is
down to the canvas!!!

4. I need to work on my technique - I currently have a really sore inner
left thigh from where I must have been pressing my left leg against the stem
due to me leaning forward to unweight the rear tyre.

I think it is back to braking with the legs without actually skidding (i.e.
slowing down gradually) and saving the brakes for emergencies. I might do
the occasional fixie skid just for fun though!!!!!

Gags

Jules

> 1. Skidding the rear wheel doesn't actually slow you down real quick -

Precisely. In terms of effectiveness for slowing one's bike it's
roughly on par with dragging your feet on the ground.

> 2. I don't think I will ever go sans brakes - as I was going past the

Pleased to hear it! So far there's only been 1 broken collarbone among
my brake-less fixie friends, but I imagine it's only a matter of time...

PeteSig

"Gags" wrote:

> Today's efforts have resulted in me coming to a number of conclusions:
>
> 1. Skidding the rear wheel doesn't actually slow you down real quick -
> not sure if this has anything to do with my technique (or lack of it) but
> because I had to unweight the rear so much to stop it spinning, I just
> seemed to keep skidding without actually losing too much speed.

Braking is most effective when the tyre is braked to the extreme, just
before losing traction. That's exactly what ABS on cars does, applies the
brakes, then momentarily releases them before traction is lost, then
reapplies, all in microseconds. To stop real quick.... don't skid!

> I can also only do fixie skids with my left foot back and so potentially I
> would have to roll for a few metres before even starting to skid - add in
> the added difficulty of tram tracks and gutters and I really don't know
> how anyone can ride without brakes (may have something to do with me
> running too big a gear or the fact that they are shitloads better riders
> than me??).

Lower gears give you more leverage to climb hills and accelerate, and more
leverage to stop the fixed wheel turning. Also it will be quicker to get the
crank into position on the left.

>
> 3. Skidding on a regular basis would be an expensive pastime for me -
> when I left for work this morning the rear tyre was a conti GP4000 with
> about 150km of previous wear as a front tyre (I only put it on last night
> after I had finished practicing). When I got home I had a look at the
> tyre and there are a number of significant flat spots on it and one of
> them is down to the canvas!!!

Yeah, skidding destroys tyres. No surprises there! Nice prank, but not a
serious traffic technique.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

obakesan

Hi

In article <Yresj.13839$421.10145@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, "PeteSig"
<petesig@bigpond.com> wrote:
>

>
>Braking is most effective when the tyre is braked to the extreme, just
>before losing traction. That's exactly what ABS on cars does, applies the
>brakes, then momentarily releases them before traction is lost, then
>reapplies, all in microseconds. To stop real quick.... don't skid!

yes, that is right on grippy tar (wish my bike had ABS actually) but not so
good on loose dirt or other difficult surfaces.

I hear my ABS in my car juddering away when almost nothing is happening to
slow me down, worse if there is any icy stuff or frost on the ground ... quite
disturbing I must say.

See Ya
(when bandwidth gets better ;-)

Chris Eastwood
Photographer, Programmer
Motorcyclist and dingbat

please remove undies for reply

TimC

On 2008-02-12, obakesan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Hi
>
> In article <Yresj.13839$421.10145@news-server.bigpond.net.au>, "PeteSig"
> <petesig@bigpond.com> wrote:
>>reapplies, all in microseconds. To stop real quick.... don't skid!
>
> yes, that is right on grippy tar (wish my bike had ABS actually) but not so
> good on loose dirt or other difficult surfaces.
>
> I hear my ABS in my car juddering away when almost nothing is happening to
> slow me down, worse if there is any icy stuff or frost on the ground ... quite
> disturbing I must say.

It has been said that ABS is worse for braking on gravel in
particular, because a bit more skidding is good for slowing down on
such surfaces. Not ice though

--
TimC
Disclaimer: This post owned by the owner

BT Humble

Gags wrote:
> 3. Skidding on a regular basis would be an expensive pastime for me -
> when I left for work this morning the rear tyre was a conti GP4000 with
> about 150km of previous wear as a front tyre (I only put it on last night
> after I had finished practicing). When I got home I had a look at the tyre
> and there are a number of significant flat spots on it and one of them is
> down to the canvas!!!

You inspired me to give it a go too. I headed out on my single-
speed[1] this evening, and discovered that it was actually much, much
easier to skid under leg-power alone than to come to a smooth stop!

That's probably got something to do with the 30-year-old coaster brake
being in need of a service, of course. ;-)


BTH
[1] http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm

obakesan

Hi

In article <slrn-0.9.7.4-13059-30693-200802122327-tc@hexane.ssi.swin.edu.au>,
TimC <tconnors@no.spam.accepted.here-astro.swin.edu.au> wrote:

>> I hear my ABS in my car juddering away when almost nothing is happening to
>> slow me down, worse if there is any icy stuff or frost on the ground ...
> quite
>> disturbing I must say.
>
>It has been said that ABS is worse for braking on gravel in
>particular, because a bit more skidding is good for slowing down on
>such surfaces. Not ice though

I've got tyres here which have small steel studs in them (made by Nokia) bicycle tyres have them too. So yes, skidding on ice is better than not

See Ya
(when bandwidth gets better ;-)

Chris Eastwood
Photographer, Programmer
Motorcyclist and dingbat

please remove undies for reply

geoffs

I met a fixie cyclist at the Bicycle film Fest in Sydney who rode a fixie with no brakes.
He was wearing a sling and looked very much the worse for wearing after having a nasty crash while cycling through the cbd.
Apparently the skid technique doesn't work very well when the roads are wet.
Surprise, surprise!!

Bean Long

BT Humble wrote:

> [1] http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm

Hahahahaha! For some reason it reminds me of a quote from a friend of
mine... "if it ain't fixed it's broke"

BT Humble

Bean Long wrote:
> BT Humble wrote:
> > [1]http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm
>
> Hahahahaha! For some reason it reminds me of a quote from a friend of
> mine... "if it ain't fixed it's broke"

25 trips to the shops, left outside unlocked every time, and *still*
nobody will steal it!


BTH

Bean Long

BT Humble wrote:
> Bean Long wrote:
>> BT Humble wrote:
>>> [1]http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm
>> Hahahahaha! For some reason it reminds me of a quote from a friend of
>> mine... "if it ain't fixed it's broke"
>
> 25 trips to the shops, left outside unlocked every time, and *still*
> nobody will steal it!

You've gotta stop shopping at "Ye Olde Worlde Wares". People probably
think the bike's there as a prop!

lemmiwinks.au@gmail.com

On Feb 14, 5:42 pm, BT Humble <bt_hum...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> Bean Long wrote:
> > BT Humble wrote:
> > > [1]http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm
>
> > Hahahahaha! For some reason it reminds me of a quote from a friend of
> > mine... "if it ain't fixed it's broke"
>
> 25 trips to the shops, left outside unlocked every time, and *still*
> nobody will steal it!
>
> BTH

So there's no honour among thieves, but apparently there is some sense
of pride ;-)

Resound

"BT Humble" <bt_humble@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:18f35928-571d-456b-9413-da69cdad99f3@i7g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> Bean Long wrote:
>> BT Humble wrote:
>> > [1]http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm
>>
>> Hahahahaha! For some reason it reminds me of a quote from a friend of
>> mine... "if it ain't fixed it's broke"
>
> 25 trips to the shops, left outside unlocked every time, and *still*
> nobody will steal it!
>
I used to leave mine leaning against a post unlocked when I could see it in
the hope that someone would have a go. I figured I could get out there and
recover the bike while they were picking themselves up and examining their
road rash.

Patrick Keogh

Resound wrote:
> "BT Humble" <bt_humble@bigpond.com> wrote in message
> news:18f35928-571d-456b-9413-da69cdad99f3@i7g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>> Bean Long wrote:
>>> BT Humble wrote:
>>>> [1]http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/BILDc003.htm
>>> Hahahahaha! For some reason it reminds me of a quote from a friend of
>>> mine... "if it ain't fixed it's broke"
>> 25 trips to the shops, left outside unlocked every time, and *still*
>> nobody will steal it!
>>
> I used to leave mine leaning against a post unlocked when I could see it in
> the hope that someone would have a go. I figured I could get out there and
> recover the bike while they were picking themselves up and examining their
> road rash.
>
>

Fair enuf. Today in Civic (Canberra) I walked past a fixie that had a
pretty big ring on the front an a moderate one on the back. No brakes,
toe clips. It wasn't locked, but I thought 'not to many of those who
would steal it could ride it!"